Plans for £30m hotel to replace the Ironworks at risk after Highland Council officials recommend refusing planning permission
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A controversial plan to demolish the Ironworks music venue and build a £30 million hotel has been recommended for refusal.
Highland Council reports state concerns over the scale, mass and bulk of the proposed six-storey, 160-bedroom Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Academy Street. The proposed hotel would cater for up to 100,000 guests a year and include a 24-hour gym.
The news has left developer Bricks Group disappointed and frustrated.
Chief operating officer Allan Davidson said it initially wanted 190 bedrooms, but reduced this to 160 in their application at the instigation of planning officials.
“In recent weeks the planners came forward with new proposals which would have meant the hotel being reduced to around 100 rooms – which we feel is extremely unfair at this late stage”, he said.
“Such a reduction means our business plan simply wouldn’t work.
“We’ve bent over backwards in making alterations to suit, but lopping off 60 rooms was too much to ask.”
A scathing assessment from the council’s Historic Environment Team (HET) appeared to be a significant factor.
The HET claimed the hotel building would badly impact not just the Riverside Conservation Area, but also views of the city as a whole as the plans were described as “devoid of architectural quality in its monolithic blocks and featureless cladding”.
It also advised the developer to go back to the drawing board.
There have been a series of consultations with planners and the public. Changes to the design are estimated at around £400,000 including lowering the height of the roof and scaling back the number of bedrooms from 190 to 160.
But John Kelly, area planning manager (south), said they did not go far enough, adding: “These changes do not address the more fundamental concerns over the scale, mass and bulk of the proposed development.
“The applicant has indicated that any further revisions would make the development completely unviable and therefore the applicant wishes the proposal to be determined based on the current design.”
Inverness-born Mr Davidson said the council was simply asking too much. “That’s why we’ve asked for our application to go before elected members in the hope that they may look favourably on a major inward investment for the city centre in the challenging pandemic economy,” he said.
“When furlough ends in March, there will be many local redundancies but we plan 100 construction jobs followed by 65 permanent full-time jobs. We have the funding in place to complete this project and revitalise Academy Street.”
He said there had been no hint of trouble after a meeting with planners at Inverness Town House late last year prompted feelings of optimism, but six months later the HET came out strongly against the plan.
“At no time did any planner tell us about the unfavourable HET report and the first we knew was when it was in a local paper,” he said. “But even a couple of months ago, there were signals given that we could still be OK. Then we were recently told the exact opposite.
“I have been trying for over six weeks to have a meeting with a planning and infrastructure head, without success. It is all extremely frustrating – but we believe in our product and we fight on.”
The move for refusal was based on the design and mass of the building appearing to overpower others in the conservation area, particularly three listed buildings.
Mr Kelly stated: “This impact would be most acutely experienced from the immediate local area, but would also impact on wider views of the city’s roofscape, including views from key landmark buildings located within and outwith the conservation area.”
He added: “While it could be argued that the potential loss of the Ironworks music venue would have an adverse effect on the vitality and viability of the city centre, this is not a matter the council, as planning authority, has any direct control over, being largely a matter in the hands of the owner.
"Therefore, as a material planning consideration in the determination of this application, it must be given limited weight in the decision-making process.”
